From the time of its foundation in 1986, the Donald Keene Center has sought to foster intellectual and cultural exchange between Japan and the United States; provide venues for symposia, lectures, and demonstrations that will raise public awareness of Japanese intellectual and cultural products; and encourage the academic and professional development of academics—both students and faculty—working in this area. Accordingly, the Center has long endeavored to make its programs free to both Columbia University affiliates and the general public. Although the Center has benefited greatly from the generosity of numerous corporate donors and individuals of means and vision, recent trends in corporate philanthropy, both in the U.S. and Japan, have made it necessary for the Center's professional staff to devote an increasing amount of time to fundraising activities.

If you have benefited from the Center's activities—as a scholarship recipient, as a student whose academic course work has been enriched by a lecture or demonstration sponsored by the Keene Center, or as an unaffiliated but interested individual who has attended one of our film series or symposia—we hope that you will consider becoming a Friend or Patron of the Donald Keene Center.

Please contact us today.